My Mission or My Heart
by Shalheira
Summary: Naruto had desperately chased after Sasuke for the past three years but he had always been just too late. Now he has been given one last chance, by joining Sasuke's group Naruto can either convince him to come home or to fail trying. Naruto's having trouble keeping a fine line between his mission and his heart but in the end, which one will he choose.
1. Chapter 1

**AN:** This story was originally started by Valasca but was adopted by me, I rewrote the first chapter but the ideas are mostly the same. I also slowed the story down a little bit since I thought the first one went to fast. I hope you guys like it and let me know what you think n.n

I changed the story rating to T for now, but it may become M later on.

Just to make things a little clearer, this story takes place before Sasuke kills Itachi and his group is still known as Hebi.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of its character, just my ideas; image is by RS-Design

**Updates:** Look of profile

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-Flashback-

Naruto looked down with dismay at the solid chakra still fusing their hands together; after their many failed attempts at breaking the chakra they have arrived at their last resort. Having the same thought as Sasuke, they jumped down off the ledge to the protruding rock sticking out of the waterfall. 'This has to work,' Naruto thought hopefully as they hit the rock on target, only to have his hope crushed when finding themselves momentarily stuck underneath the waterfall. While trying to get out, the movement of their struggles made the chakra retract, flinging the two young ninjas into the air and pulling them closer. Naruto eyes widen in surprise as his face drew nearer to Sasuke's and he saw his own feeling's reflecting in those onyx eyes as the two were being pulled closer. Feeling their lips being pressed together, Naruto's heart rate increased, feeling butterflies dancing inside his stomach at the thought of Sasuke's lips upon his own. The kiss finally ended with both young men falling back down into the water.

"Why do I always end up kissing you?!" Sasuke sneered with disdain clear in his voice.

"You took the words right out of my mouth!" Naruto yelled at the top of his lungs, looking disgusted on the outside, but feeling only joy toward the small intimate act. If Sasuke ever found out that his feelings for him were any different from friendship, he knew the raven would kill him. Looking off to the side, Naruto frowned slighting, knowing Sasuke didn't share the same feelings. If he had to choose between taking the risk of confessing or staying friends, he would chose to stay friends; he couldn't imagine what life would be like without his close bond with Sasuke.

_'Sasuke's this close now but I can feel him drifting farther and farther away...'_

-End Flashback-

* * *

Waking up to the rays of sunlight pouring in through the window, Naruto rolled over to his side, looking out the very same window as he watched the clouds floating by in the air. _'That's right, it has been two years since Sasuke left the village and three years that team seven has been broken. No matter what I do, I can never get to him on time. Sasuke, why can't I save you?'_ Naruto thought, feeling a deep depression settle in the pit of his stomach.

-BEEP BEEP-

The blaring sound of his alarm clock went off next to his bed, startling him out of his thoughts. Looking over at his annoying device, he quickly picked it up, shutting off the loud blaring sound and to check the time, reading it as 7:30 am. "Ahhhhhh! Why did it go off late?!" Naruto nearly screamed as he jumped out of bed, threw on his signature orange and black clothing, and shot out the door of his apartment, completely forgetting about breakfast. He had been due at the training fields at seven that morning to train with Sakura and now he was running late… again. Nearing the training fields, the blonde saw the familiar pink haired girl standing beneath the tree they always met under with her arms crossed over her chest and an annoyed expression on her face.

"Morning Sakura!" He shouted to her, a large smile appearing across his features as he waved his hand in the air. When she looked over, he saw her raise her hand too, thinking she was going to wave back, but he was instead met with a fist to the face, sending him flying back the way he came,

"You idiot! You ask me to train with you and then make me wait for half an hour?!" Sakura yelled in frustration, holding her fist up as if she was going to hit him again.

"I-I'm sorry Sakura, my alarm clock didn't go off at the right time," Naruto said, feeling a bit scared, holding one hand up in a gesture of surrender while the other was holding his injured cheek.

"Fine, just don't keep me waiting again." She relented with a sigh, lowering her hand as she turned around, marching back into the training field and continued to speak, "Come on, let's get started. Kakashi-sensei said he would join us later, but I want to spar with you a bit before he comes."

Naruto smiled as he jumped up and ran after her, barely evading the unexpected fist that came flying his way the moment he was in range of her dangerous hands.

The next few hours were spent mostly sparing with a bit of shuriken practice, which was interrupted when Kakashi jumped down and successfully caught all the shuriken that was intended for the targets on the trees.

"Ah, Kakashi-sensei, I was just about to win my bet with Sakura. She was going to buy me ramen tonight," Naruto whined as he realized that _he_ was now going to be buying dinner tonight.

"Sorry," Kakashi said apathetically as he dropped the shuriken on the ground. "Sakura, I'll spar with you first, why don't you wait for me over by the field?"

"Okay," She replied, walking in the direction that had been pointed to. Turning to follow his teammate, Naruto stopped mid-step as he felt a firm hand land on his shoulder. Looking at his ex-sensei with expectation, his brows furrowed in confusion as Kakashi physically turned him toward the Hokage building and explained, "Not you Naruto, Lady Tsunade would like to speak with you."

"Aw, does it have to be right now? This is the first time in forever we've had the chance spar together," Naruto protested childishly, folding his arms across his chest with a pout planted on his lips.

"Yes, go on now, don't want to keep the Hokage waiting." Kakashi replied with a small smirk, knowing Naruto wouldn't be complaining when he found out what Lady Tsunade wanted to speak to him about.

"Hmph, she could wait forever with how long she's already extended her life," Naruto grumbled lowly, walking toward the Hokage tower without about as much enthusiasm as a dog about to get a bath. Watching his student disappear through the woods, Kakashi silently prayed the blonde would be alright, knowing full well that this was possibly the last time he would see him in a long time.

* * *

Arriving at the Hokage tower a few minutes later, he paused for a moment, frowning at the strange energy making him hesitate before the door of the Hokage's office. With the decision to cast the nervous feelings aside, he raised a fist to the door, knocking for permission to enter; not quite sure why he was nervous in the first place. Waiting for the 'enter' from Lady Tsunade, Naruto threw the door open, slamming it shut as he greeted, "Hey, granny."

"Naruto, glad you could come. I have a very important matter I need to discuss with you, it involves Sasuke," Lady Tsunade said from her seat behind the large brown desk, ignoring the 'granny' jibe as she propped her elbows upon the desk, knitting her fingers together and resting her chin on her fingers.

"Sasuke? Did something happen to him?" Naruto asked, worry clearly showing on his features as he thought about the friend he had vowed to save. If something had happened to him, Naruto would never be able to forgive himself for not being able to save him.

"No, more like something is going to be happening to you," She answered calmly, immediately dissipating Naruto's worries.

"Eh?" Naruto gave her a confused look as he tried to figure out what the hold hag was talking about.

"To be more precise, I have a special mission for you," Tsunade explained patiently, being used to Naruto's slow cycle of processing information.

"A special mission?!" Naruto exclaimed excitedly, his face lighting up at the mention of the mission, especially a mission involving Sasuke; he had been dying for a new mission that would allow him to find Sasuke.

As if reading his mind, Tsunade continued, "Yes, this mission will allow you to find Sasuke, I actually want you to join Sasuke."

"What? But that means I'll have to become a rouge ninja!" Naruto exclaimed in disbelief. "And even if I did agree to this, how would I convince him that I'm not going to try to capture him?"

"I'll leave that up to you," Tsunade stated, "This is a long term mission that could last any amount of time and don't under any circumstances give away your position. I do, however, expect reports under the utmost secrecy. This may be our best chance to find Sasuke, but, of course, the choice is completely up to you."

Although Naruto was very tempted, there was one thing that still bothered him. "What about Sakura? Will she know what I'm going to do?"

Tsunade sighed, she hoped it wouldn't come to this, "No Naruto, the only ones that will be aware of your mission will be Kakashi and I. She will think that you abandoned the village, which is the only way to insure that your mission won't be compromised. This way if you two were to encounter each other, she won't give you away. I trust Sakura, but she isn't the best at hiding secrets."

"Alright, I'll do it, and I won't fail either!" Naruto agreed after a few moments of silence, swallowing hard at the mere thought of hurting Sakura; she would probably hate him for the rest his life, but hopefully she would be able to forgive him…after all, this might be the only way to bring Sasuke home.

Tsunade smirked at the already predicted answer, "You will head out tonight, after all the civilians are asleep. Make sure none of the ninjas notice you."

"Okay," Naruto said as he looked up at Tsunade, his eyes burning with renewed determination. He turned to leave but stopped when he reached the door. Glancing back over his shoulder he said, "Next time I return, it will be with Sasuke." He then walked out of the office, closing the door silently behind him.

Once she was sure he was gone, Shizune turned to Lady Tsunade, "Are you sure about this? After all, it's a bit dangerous sending him out there and we could have gotten someone else to do it."

"Naruto's the only one who can do this, Shizune," Tsunade said as she looked out the window behind the desk. The small silhouette of Naruto could be seen walking away from the building. She smirked, "Just wait and have a little bit of faith in him, he'll come through."

* * *

Night was rapidly approaching and Naruto quickly began packing his things. He knew he was going to be gone for a long time but if he wanted to travel swiftly, he was going to have to pack light. He packed his usual weapons along with extra sealing scrolls so he could carry more items with less weight. Of course he included multiple outfits and camping supplies. _'Man it sure is difficult to carry everything with one person,' _He thought with a small ironic smile.

By the time he had finished packing, night had fallen and the town had fallen into the beautiful abyss of slumber. There was still one more thing that Naruto needed to do. Taking off his headband, he hid it in a nearby drawer and took out an identical headband to the one he had just put away. The headband that Iruka had given him was too important to ruin so he scratched a line through the leaf symbol on the spare instead.

Naruto slipped on his shoes and slung his pack over his shoulder. Taking one last glance behind him, his eyes fell on the first picture that had ever been taken of Team 7, their genin group picture. _'I won't fail, not this time. I'm going to bring you home Sasuke.'_

Naruto left his apartment, easily hiding in the shadows since most of the village lights had been turned off by now. Escaping past the gate guards wasn't very hard either, considering that both of them had dozed off already. _'Granny really needs to appoint some new guards,' _Naruto thought with a smirk on his face. Turning to look at the village he called home, Naruto took a deep breath and dropped his scratched headband, hoping anyone but Sakura found it.

Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out a letter he had received earlier from the Hokage, under the instructions not to open it until he left the village. Unfolding the mysterious note, Naruto read its contents: _The last know location of Sasuke was in Taki. Try to go from there, good luck Naruto._ The letter was short and to the point, but he figured out why Tsunade wanted him to leave the village before reading it. If someone else was able to figure out where he's going, it could lead to hell for him.

Naruto stopped for a moment and pulled out a match. He lit the paper on fire and watched it burn until the paper turned to nothing but black ash, he then shattered it's remains until nothing was left. Jumping up into the trees he began traveling toward Taki. _'It's a couple days travel to get to Taki and by the time I get there he might have left already, but this is my only lead so I have no choice but start here.'_

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_**AN:** Thank you to my amazing beta reader Xyra Kaze who made this chapter so much more than it was before!_


	2. Chapter 2

**AN:** This is the chapter where it starts changing from the other story, please enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** I don't own Naruto or any of it's characters, just my ideas

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Taking a seat in front of the small fire he had made from nearby laying sticks, Naruto popped a few of the food pills Sakura had made him, back when he had been too busy training to eat, in his mouth. He had saved them because of their foul taste, but found them very convenient now with his nerves running high and his energy running low. The blonde had traveled throughout the entire day and well into the night; his body finally feeling the after effects of such a long, strenuous journey now that he had come to a standstill. Stamping out the fire in case of any wondering enemy shinobi, Naruto laid down comfortably under the stars, not feeling up to pitching a tent when he would be leaving in only a few short hours.

Everything appeared to be the same, but Naruto felt the loneliness of not having his group to rely on. He traveled for days on end, laid beneath the stars every night and instead of having light conversation, he was left to map out the stars, having nothing better to do; finally he raised early in the morning, so his destination could be reached in the shortest amount of time.

Rolling over onto his side, he closed his eyes in an attempt to sleep. He was normally a heavy sleeper, but with being a one-man squad he needed to sleep light in case of an attack. Although his thoughts kept wandering, he was finally able to drift off to a light, dreamy sleep.

Naruto awoke from his sleep and judging by the small light in the horizon, it couldn't have been more than four in the morning. Deciding he could make better progress if he left early, he grabbed his pack and scattered the remains of the fire that had long since burned out.

He continued to travel through the day, unknowingly passing through the board of Taki. By the time the sun had set, he came across the Hidden Waterfall Village. As he stood by the waterfall that hid the village's entrance, memories flashed through his mind. Team 7 had come here many years ago—back when they were still genin—on a simple C rank escort mission that ended up turning into a battle for theirs and the villagers' lives. It had ended well though, they had defeated Suien even without Kakashi's help and Shibuki had found his courage to lead the village.

Speaking of Shibuki, he would finally be able to check up on how he's been doing over the last two years. _'I wonder how they get supplies into the village if they would just end up getting wet,'_ Naruto thought with a small smile and a slight tilt of his head, walking behind the waterfall and up the tunnel that led to the village. _'What about food? Do they eat soggy bread all the time?'_

Naruto shook himself out of his thoughts and jumped into the water filled tunnel, following it until it led into a clear blue lake before swimming to the surface. Pulling himself out of the water, he stepped onto its surface and walked toward the buildings.

The village looked exactly the opposite of what he remembered, years ago it had been vacant, deadly quiet due to the attack but now it was lively with hundreds of people walking in its streets. Naruto weaved through the crowds as he made his way to the village leader's office building.

The building was the largest in the village, much like the Hokage Tower back in Konoha, and the village's symbol on the front. Naruto walked up to the front doors and was halted by two guards standing at its entrance. He cleared his throat and spoke confidently, "I'm, Naruto Uzumaki, and I would like to speak to Shibuki."

"Ah, right this way," said the person on his left. He followed the guard through the maze of hallways inside the building and finally came to a stop in front of a plain wooden door. The man knocked and entered before announcing Naruto.

"Naruto?" A familiar voice questioned with a hint of excitement. Naruto walked into the room and met the eyes of his longtime friend.

"Shibuki! Long time no see!" Naruto exclaimed as he ran over to greet him with his signature goofy grin plastered on his face. They shook hands and sat down on opposite sides of the desk to talk. They spent the longest time catching up on what had happened in the last two years and Naruto enjoyed listening to Shibuki's adventures.

"By the way," Naruto said suddenly changing the subject, "have you seen Sasuke recently?"

"Sasuke? No but some of the villagers have been talking about a handsome stranger that passed through here a couple of days ago with a few companions."

"Really?" Naruto asked feeling hope begin rise in him. "Did they say where he was going?"

"I believe he was heading in the direction of the Land of Fire," Shibuki said.

"What?! But I just came from that way, I probably went passed him without even knowing it," Naruto hung his head in disappointment, he had been too late...again.

"Why are you searching for Sasuke anyway?" Shibuki asked, he was a little confused by Naruto's sudden change in attitude.

"It's a long story," Naruto said as he rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, but I don't have time to tell you about it right now, but it's nothing you need to worry about." Naruto said his goodbyes quickly, to the disappointment of Shibuki, and departed from the village. He had been tempted to spend the night but instead decided to head back toward the Land of Fire.

Although the sun had set hours ago, Naruto had wanted to cover some ground between him and the Land of Fire before he rested for the night. Just as he was about to stop, he saw a small light not very far away from where he stood and wanted to check it out. Upon approaching the area, he realized that it was not a small light at all, but a small town. It was about one forth of the size of Konoha and had a river running right through the middle, separating the town into two parts.

Naruto smiled, _'This is the perfect place to rest for the night.'_

* * *

Not more than a few miles down the river sat a four-man ninja squad that formed the group known as Hebi. A small fire sat burning between the members as a red haired girl was using it cook. She gave out bowls of soup to each member before sitting down to eat herself.

A sword using ninja known as Suigetsu choked on the food as soon as he put it in his mouth. "Yeah," he said after spitting it out, "definitely Karin's cooking."

"Shut up!" Karin said, slightly flustered. "If you want to complain so much then you don't get any!"

"I already got some," he retorted. "At least people don't gag on my cooking."

"Because you never cook!" Karin yelled at him, her irritation clearly shown on her stiff features.

"Well that is your job," Suigetsu snapped back, nonchalantly casting her insults aside.

"Both of you be quiet," Sasuke's voice hadn't been raised but the order was clearly heard. He stood up, having clearly finished and walked away from the fire to sit beneath a nearby tree. "I want your reports."

"Two Akatsuki members have been seen near the border of the Fire Country," Suigetsu replied, "unfortunately their descriptions don't match that of Itachi. Apparently it was a blond man with long hair with a masked companion."

"As for me," Karin said, "I haven't found any new leads on Itachi, last he was seen was in the Land of Earth to capture the four tails jinchūriki, but that was over a week ago."

"I was unable to gather any useful information as well," Jugo said.

Sasuke was quiet for a moment, continuing to watch the river as if he found it interesting. "We'll head out early tomorrow," Sasuke announced, "Karin, Suigetsu, you have watch tonight."

"Call second watch," Suigetsu said lazily as he laid down.

Karin walked over and stomped Suigetsu's hand, smirking in victory when she received a cry of pain from him.

* * *

Sakura ran through the village streets searching for her blond friend who had been missing since this morning. She had stopped by his apartment earlier that morning only to find it empty. At first she had thought he had just gone out as he usually did, but it was already late and he had yet to return. She couldn't help but worry even though she knew that Naruto would be able to protect himself if something did happened.

She sprinted around the next corner into a side street and collided full force into a person, knocking them both to the ground.

"Ow! Watch where you're going!" the person yelled in exasperation.

"Sorry," Sakura apologized quickly, looking over at the person she had run into."Ino?"

"Sakura? What are you doing running around town for?" Ino asked in surprise, her eyes showing her curiosity as she stood back up.

Sakura stood up as well, "Nothing really, I was just looking for Naruto. You haven't seen him have you?"

"No, anyway he's your teammate, it's your job to look after him." She answered, finding the mere thought of watching over Naruto ridiculous.

"I know, it's just that I'm a little worried," Sakura admitted as she casted her eyes downward, "It's normal for him to be gone for the entire day unless he got a mission, but he didn't say anything."

Ino smiled, she could relate to how she was feeling; after all, she had two boys on her team that made her worry as well, whether it was for their safety or state of mind, "You worry too much, I'm sure he's fine and will turn up soon. Why don't we go out to eat tonight, I'll even pay for you."

"Sure that sounds great," Sakura said as she perked up a little bit. "I'm just going to go and check the front gates first and see if they've seen Naruto recently, I'll catch up to you in a little bit." Sakura ran toward the gates, silently hoping they had seen him, it would give her closer to at least get an idea where he was.

Arriving at her destination, she walked up the desk of the two guards who were going through the days papers, "Excuse me," Sakura said, just loud enough to get their attention, "you haven't by any chance seen Naruto pass through these gates have you?"

"Naruto?" the ninja on the right asked, taking a quick look down at mission papers, he answered, "No he doesn't have a mission so he hasn't passed through here."

"Oh, okay," Sakura couldn't hide the look of disappointment as she turned away. She was about to head back to meet up with Ino when a glint of metal caught her eye. She advanced toward the source and found a headband with a black band lying on the ground. Picking it up she noticed the scratch through the leaf symbol and the slight worn edges the signified it's long time use. _'But this is... Naruto's headband!'_

* * *

**AN:** Thank you to my amazing beta reader Xyra Kaze!


	3. Chapter 3

**AN:** Thank you to those who review and favorite! Just as a heads up, it's that time of the year again where I get extremely busy and don't have a lot of time for writing, so please be patient with me. Most of my free time is in the middle months so there won't be many speedy updates for a while.

**Disclaimer:** I do not own Naruto or any of it's characters, just my ideas. Some words and quotes in this chapter have been taken from Naruto Shippuden episodes 122-125

* * *

Sasuke quietly landed on the edge of the forest, an extensive open field stretched out before him. Shielding his sensitive eyes from the intense overhead sunlight, the Uchiha examined the field for any signs of the two Akatsuki members that were rumored to be passing through here. The area was abnormally quiet, the only sounds heard was the soft snapping of twigs behind him announcing the arrival of his three companions.

"Spread out and search, you know where to go," Sasuke ordered without even sparing a glance behind himself. The three disappeared without a sound, each going to their appointed destinations in search of the Akatsuki members. Sasuke began to walk forward but came to an immediate halt when two unknown presences made themselves known behind him.

"Well if it isn't Sasuke, hn?" At the voice Sasuke whipped around to face the newcomers. Standing before him was a blond haired man with one eye partially hidden behind his long bangs and beside him was a masked man with short black hair. He could have easily mistaken them for normal ninjas had it not been for the scratched headband across their foreheads and the signature black and red robes that adorned them.

Sasuke's hand instinctively wrapped around the hilt of his sword, removing the blade from its sheath; the blade was positioned between the raven haired teen and the Akatsuki ninja. Although his expression remained neutral, the aura emanating from his body gave off a sense of danger, strong enough to even make his enemies shudder.

"You must know where Itachi is, tell me his location and I won't kill you," Sasuke demanded, eyes narrowing to watch for any sign of movement. He wouldn't put it past these two to try and trick him.

"Huh? You think you're in the position to make any threats?" The Akatsuki member known as Deidara sneered as he shoved his hands into the pouches strapped on each side of his hips, grabbing a handful of clay. Watching his opponent, he smirked as his hands began chewing the clay in order for it to become soft enough to mold. "Try being that tough when you're begging for mercy hn!"

"Deidara, don't kill him or Itachi might kill us," a high pitched, slightly worried voice came from the masked man who stood shaking slightly beside the blond.

"I know Tobi, but he didn't say we couldn't rough him up a bit," Deidara replied with an evil smirk spreading across his features, withdrawing his hands from the pouches.

Sasuke's eyes widened slightly as a mass of clay was thrown at him and his world was soon engulfed in a blinding white light.

* * *

Naruto awoke late in the afternoon thanks to the dark curtains that covered the windows, his sense of time having been thrown off since the sunlight wasn't there to wake him up. He shot upward after waking up with a bit of disorientation brought on from the unfamiliar surroundings, but soon relaxed as the memories of last night came back to him. He had come across the small town late last night and thought it would be nice to stay at a hotel instead of sleeping on the ground.

After taking a quick shower, Naruto found himself jumping along the roofs of the buildings, heading to the edge of the town. There was no point in wasting any more time here, since he had a mission he needed to complete and the late morning start wasn't helping. Just as he landed on the last roof near the forest, there was a slight tug of a familiar chakra signature in the air that made him freeze on the spot. _'This chakra belongs to . . . Sasuke!' _The blonde thought and whirled around, facing the direction the chakra was coming from.

The town was surrounded by small mountains that slightly overlapped one another, creating a sort of wall that seemed to protect the town. Judging by the distance of the chakra, Naruto had to guess that its source was just behind the surrounding mountains. With that thought in mind, Naruto took off at a speed he hadn't known he was capable of, closing the distance at a rapid pace. As he got closer, the blonde frowned as he sense another powerful – if not more powerful – chakra coming from the same area; it was completely foreign.

He soon approached a small clearing in the woods, just behind the mountains, and heard an unfamiliar voice. Naruto crouched down on a nearby tree branch and concealed his presence, intent on assessing the situation. Sasuke and a blond haired man sat no more than ten meters away from each other, both were looking extremely exhausted to the point where neither could stand. Naruto couldn't stop the worried feeling filling the pit of his stomach as he noticed the strong chakra that he had sensed earlier from Sasuke was now meager and almost unnoticeable.

"This will be my ultimate piece of art, I'll explode!" the blond man stated in excitement, an eerie smile spreading across his face as he stared at his opponent. "This will be like no explosion before it, and it will bequeath a scar on the Earth unlike anything else. The radius of this explosion is ten kilometers, there's no escape hn!"

As he said this, his skin became a dark gray color, black lines beginning to appear across his skin, all the lines connected to a ball that appeared where his heart was supposed to be. Naruto felt a cold sweat begin to run down his face as he wondered what Sasuke was going to do. Should he jump in and help or should he just wait? Even if he did help, he's not sure if he could get both of them out of the blast's radius in time. Naruto watched as Sasuke tried and failed to rise from the ground, he didn't have enough energy left to move away.

"My art . . . is an explosion!" Deidara yelled as his body became clear and soon disappeared, the only thing remaining was the black ball. Cracks appeared along the ball as it broke, releasing an immensely bright light that began to consume everything around it.

Naruto couldn't wait any longer, he rushed forward and grabbed Sasuke right as the light approached them. Using all of his strength, he attempted to get them out of the ten kilometer range. He wasn't sure how far he made it until the light had consumed them and Naruto's world was filled with a burning pain and a black abyss fell upon him.

* * *

"Ugh . . ." Naruto groaned as his consciousness returned, his body ached as if he had been hit by a bomb, which it technically had. Forcing his eyes open, his gaze immediately focused in on his surroundings. No more than five meters to his left was a gargantuan hole that went as far as he could see; the small mountain that had been nearby was now nowhere in sight. A small rustling to his right caught his attention.

Sasuke's arms shook as he pushed himself to his feet, his already depleted strength wouldn't allow him to do more than sit on his knees. Little surprise had come to him when Naruto had grabbed and dragged him out of the bomb's radius since he had sensed Naruto coming from a couple miles away. Although he hadn't known his intentions, he had known that Naruto was alone so if he had come to fight him, taking him on wouldn't be too difficult once his group arrived.

Naruto swallowed hard, he never expected to make it this far this quickly, he didn't even know what to say and he didn't want to sound like an idiot. Sasuke watched Naruto with a neutral expression like he always did but Naruto could feel the antagonistic aura coming from him. Just as he opened his mouth to speak three ninjas appeared beside Sasuke.

"Sasuke! Are you alright? We saw an explosion and—" Karin cut off mid-sentence when she noticed another ninja kneeling on the ground not far from her Sasuke. Taking up a defensive stance and pulling out a kunai knife, she stood between the blond and raven haired ninjas. "Who are you?" she asked harshly. Suigetsu and Jugo looked up at Karin's words and noticed the foreign ninja for the first time.

"Sasuke I really need to speak with you, I'm not here to fight." Naruto pleaded earnestly, ignoring the re-haired woman in favor of refocusing on Sasuke.

Karin felt a vein throb on her forehead as the blond ignored her, "Why you—" she took as step forward as if she were going to attack him.

"Stop," Sasuke sent a glare at Karin before looking back at the leaf ninja. He was well aware of Naruto's determination to bring him back to Konoha and he wasn't foolish enough to believe that he would suddenly change. However, Naruto could have attacked him before his group arrived but instead decided to attempt to talk to him. Letting out a sigh, Sasuke decided that he might as well hear what the idiot had to say. "Let's go."

"You want to join me? Why?" Sasuke asked in suspicion. They were currently in a hotel room in the town that Naruto had previously slept in. Naruto sat down in the middle of the room, watching as the man named Jugo finished bandaging Sasuke's wounds.

It wasn't unknown that Naruto's dream was to become Hokage and to be recognized by the village: leaving would not be something he would willingly do.

"I've learned things about the village," Naruto started slightly nervous, hoping he sounded more convincing than he felt, "It's not like how I thought it was and now I know there's no chance of me becoming Hokage. They don't trust me because..." Naruto left the sentence hanging and brought his hand up to his stomach, resting it right above the nine-tails seal.

"Do you really expect me to believe you?" Sasuke snapped, glaring at his former teammate.

"No." Naruto answered, lowering his head, "I know this is sudden and I don't have any proof of what I've said, but I'm willing to do anything to prove that I'm not lying." Naruto raised his head once more, eyes set in a determined stare; he refused to look away from Sasuke until he received an answer.

Sasuke leaned back as he contemplated Naruto's words. A smirk rose to his face as an idea came to him, "Very well, if you're willing to do anything I have a mission for the four of you."

* * *

**AN:** Thank you to Xyra Kaze for beta reading!


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